Glass grade/quality

[res222]

Is there a way to tell the quality/grade of glass in a lens besides the obvious of higher price for higher quality. I am still relatively new to SLR and am trying to catch up. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Rooz]

sigma have an EX range. i think nikons only distinguishing feature is the gold ring. but i may be wrong

[coldrain]

With Canon and Sigma it is easier to tell, Canon calls their top range "L", Sigma calls them "EX".
Tamron tries the same by calling their "top range" SP.

With Nikon, it is harder.

But still, just because a manufacturer calls a lens a certain way is not a garantee for it be actually perform better. It may be an indication, not a certainty. Canon has a number of high quality optics even that do not have the "L" designation.

So... what is left to sort of get an idea? Look at the care the designers took to construct the lens with special optics.

With Nikon, go to the nikonimaging.com site (not the Nikonusa.com site). There you can see which kinds of glass Nikon uses in the lens. Their "ED" and "Super ED" glass is from more expensive optic formulations, and gives an idea of the quality of the optics.

2 examples:
Nikon 18-55 kit lens:
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/af/dx/af-s_dx_zoom18-55mmf_35-56g_ed_2/img/pic_004.jpg
Nikon 17-55 f2.8 lens:
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/af/dx/af-s_dx_zoom17-55mmf_28g_if/img/pic_005.jpg
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/img/c3.gif= ED glass elements
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/img/c2.gif= Super ED glass elements
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/img/c4.gif= Aspherical lens elements

This of course is not a garantee either, some high quality lenses don't have many ED elements either. So... it remains a guessing game between the glass used, the price, and of course the results in reviews and images.

[K1W1]

Hey Coldrain,

It's good to see you back but rather than continually post technical information when are you going to treat us with your favourite photo of 2007 in the Favourite photo thread?

Do you actually take photographs or do you simply trawl the net giving your own commentary on technical subjects?

[coldrain]

Hey Coldrain,

It's good to see you back but rather than continually post technical information when are you going to treat us with your favourite photo of 2007 in the Favourite photo thread?

Do you actually take photographs or do you simply trawl the net giving your own commentary on technical subjects?
Can you just stop trolling all the time?
Thank you.

[res222]

Thanks, your replies actually helped a lot.

[Aldor88]

If you have a specific lens in mind reading different reviews might be helpfull as well. Heres a few sites as examples.

http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

[coldrain]

If you have a specific lens in mind reading different reviews might be helpfull as well. Heres a few sites as examples.

http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php
http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html
I do not put much trust in slrgear though. But that is for everyone to make up thrie mind about.

Another review site:
Photodo.com

Also helpful, if one can read between the lines, and judge posts for their worth:
www.fredmiranda.com, the reviews section.

[jcon]

With Canon and Sigma it is easier to tell, Canon calls their top range "L", Sigma calls them "EX".
Tamron tries the same by calling their "top range" SP.

With Nikon, it is harder.

But still, just because a manufacturer calls a lens a certain way is not a garantee for it be actually perform better. It may be an indication, not a certainty. Canon has a number of high quality optics even that do not have the "L" designation.

So... what is left to sort of get an idea? Look at the care the designers took to construct the lens with special optics.

With Nikon, go to the nikonimaging.com site (not the Nikonusa.com site). There you can see which kinds of glass Nikon uses in the lens. Their "ED" and "Super ED" glass is from more expensive optic formulations, and gives an idea of the quality of the optics.

2 examples:
Nikon 18-55 kit lens:
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/af/dx/af-s_dx_zoom18-55mmf_35-56g_ed_2/img/pic_004.jpg
Nikon 17-55 f2.8 lens:
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/af/dx/af-s_dx_zoom17-55mmf_28g_if/img/pic_005.jpg
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/img/c3.gif= ED glass elements
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/img/c2.gif= Super ED glass elements
http://nikonimaging.com/global/products/lens/img/c4.gif= Aspherical lens elements

This of course is not a garantee either, some high quality lenses don't have many ED elements either. So... it remains a guessing game between the glass used, the price, and of course the results in reviews and images.

I thought this was a well explained answer to the OPs technical question. I found this post to be quite usefull! Very well said Coldrain.

[XaiLo]

I do it a a little differently... I look at a whole bunch of pictures of a particular lens then go, I choose this one or not! Forum comments can be helpful at times, then again there are those other times:rolleyes:. lol

Vary your sources and sift through _____ and hopefully you can find a semblance of the truth. :)

[erichlund]

sigma have an EX range. i think nikons only distinguishing feature is the gold ring. but i may be wrong

I used to think this also, but I don't think it means anything other than, "see me, I have a pretty gold ring". The new AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR has a gold ring, and it is a consumer quality lens.

You can pretty much grade them by aperture. Pro quality lenses will have a constant aperture over the zoom range, and generally speaking, it will be f2.8 or better (the exception being the very long telephotos, which may be f4).

Everything new gets the latest lens coatings (no reason not to), but the expensive types of glass, ED and Aspherical, will be more prevalent on pro type lenses. However, not unique to them. It goes back to aperture.

Primes are pro pretty much by reputation alone, such as the 85 f1.4 over the f1.8. Nikon doesn't seem inclined to upgrade their prime lenses at this time, preferring to concentrate on high quality zooms. There are a few primes that are due for an upgrade, even though the current ones are excellent. For instance, the 35mm should be AF-S, since it is the normal lens on a DX sensor, and the D40 series cannot autofocus Nikkor primes without AF-S.